Door and running board for automobiles



Sept. 16, 1941. E. T. GREGORIE 2,255,880

DOOR AND RUNNING BOARD FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Dec, 12, 1938 III Patenteci Sept. 16, 1941 DOOR AND RUNNING BOARD FOR AUTOMO- BILES- Eugene '1. Gregorie, Grosse Ile, Mich.,-assigncr to Ford Motor Company, Dearb'orn, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Application December 12, 1938, Serial No. 245,081

11 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved running board construction for automobiles, and to improved doors for use therewith.

The present trend in the styling of automobiles, popularly known as streamlining, has for its object smooth flowing contours from bumper to bumper, and the blending of each part with each adjacent part to result in a harmonious whole as distinguished from the cars of a decade ago.

In achieving this effect in our modern cars the efforts of engineers and stylists have been directed towards the fairing of protruding parts, such as headlights, tail-lights, door hinges, etc., into the surrounding structure, but all throughout this development the running board has retained substantially its old form and appearance in spite of the fact that as the floor level of the cars was brought closer to the ground the function of the running board to assist passengers in entering and alighting was no longer essential, but the inclusion of the running board still persisted except in a few isolated instances. In such instances, however, the designers and manufacturers apparently lost sight of the fact that the running board, in addition to performing the function of assisting the passengers as heretofore mentioned, should perform the equally important function of acting as a shield to prevent stones and road dirt thrown up by the wheels from marring the finish on the sides of the car.

Research on this problem of flying stones has shown that trouble will be encountered from this source unless either the body of the car, or some sort of shield, is made to extend outwardly to a point beyond the center line of the front tire tread, and since the present body widths are not great enough to meet this criterion, some form of protruding shield must be used. Since the manufacturer of an automobile intended to meet the requirements of the general public must always design to meet the contingency of operation on every conceivable type of road, the running board has persisted because of its practical utility as a shield to prevent stones and road dirt from being thrown up against the sides of the car by the front wheels thereof. Hence, the designer and stylist has been faced with the problem of desiring to eliminate the running board for the sake of appearance, but being unable to do so because of its .practical utility.

A running board, then, being still a necessity, this invention seeks to eliminate some of its objectionable features, which are described as follows: Modern carsare being made with wider sulting in a correspondingly narrower running board which decreases its utility as a means to assist riders in entering or alighting. At the same time, the conventional running board construction with the board slightly lower than the floor of the car has persisted, apparently because it has heretofore been thought to be necessary to provide a door sill for the bottom of the car doors in order to effect aweathertight seal at that point.

This combination of factors results in several disadvantages and sources of complaint to the manufacturer because the narrow running board is not satisfactory as an aid to entrance and egress, and most people disregard it entirely for such use, so that as far as the average owner can understand, its only purpose is to collect mud and dirt to be transferred to the clothes of the passengers when they enter or leave the car. The'door sill is low enough to be unnoticeabl-e and, therefore, is a menace for this very reason because, it being low enough to be unnoticeable,

- people are inclined to disregard it and forget its presence and, as a result there have been many instances where the passengers have tripped over it, particularly upon leaving the car.

Another disadvantage in the automobile door constructions which have heretofore been generally employed is that often they are not permanently weather-tight because after the car has been driven for some time the doors get out of alignment with the sills and permit thewentrance into the body of the car of objectionable drafts. In view of the foregoing, this inventionhas for itsprincipal object a new and improved form of running board such as will overcome all these objectionable features of the prior constructions. The manner in which this objective is achieved can be better understood from the followingmore detailed description, supplemented by reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in which Fig. 1 shows a top View of a modern car;

Fig. 2 is a section taken along the line 22 of Fig. land showing the improved construction in relation to the car door and floor;

Fig. 3 is a view along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 showing additional details in the door construction.

Fig. 5 is a view showing the bottom of the outer portion of the improved running board construction.

The automobile 10 shown in Fig. 1 is typical of bodies to provide for a more roomy interior, rethe modern design, having the streamlined contours, wide body and. the correspondingly small space available for the running board as mentioned in the previous discussion. In'order to apply this streamline motif to the running board, the door II is provided witha depending apron l2 which extends outwardly and above the running boardl3 giving the latter the effect of being built into the car rather than that of an appurtenance. From perhaps a more practical standpoint, this apron I2 has other important functions, two of which are to keep the surface of the running board clean and to provide an added protection against the weather in the form of the rubber sealing flap [4 which extends the full width of the door. It is secured to the apron l2 by means of the metal clip [5, and is positioned so that it abuts tightly against the lower edge of the running board [3 when the door is closed. For added strength, the apron I2 is constructed of two thicknesses of sheet metal, an inner strip I 6 formed as a continuation of the inner'door panel 11 and 'a separate outer strip l8, both strips being spot welded or otherwise secured to the outer door panel l9. It is to be noted that the inner strip [6 does not entirely conform to the v contour of the outer strip l8 but instead is shaped so as to form a space 25 between said inner and outer strips, which construction results in a very material advantage from the standpoint of strengthening the apron and adding the desiredrigiditythereto along the entire length thereof. Additional provision for strength'and rigidity is made by the inclusion of stiffening ribs 20, which .are formed preferably by pressing such ribs laterally of the sheet It at equal intervals on the surface of the inner strip, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. These stiifening ribs also act as troughs to collect any water which comes down the inside of the door panels, and carry it outwardly from the body of the car; holes 26 being provided at the outer extremities of the stiffening ribs to allow such water to escape from the door and fall upon the downwardly sloping portion of the runningboard from whence it readily flows to the ground. The lower edge of the apron is further reinforced by the beading 2|, the entire combination resulting in a very rigid structure,

- and. since this apron is an integral part of the heretofore described, imparts added strength and 50.

stiffness to said door making it better equipped to withstand road shocks and distortion, and, consequentlyresults in a door which is less apt to become out of alignment with the car body.

The use of this depending apron and the outer weather seal secured thereto permits a new form of running board which, instead of extending inwardly only from its outer edge to approximately the outer door panel, is carried by reason of the elimination of the conventional door sill, entirely underneath the door to terminate at substantially the inner edge thereof. At this point provision is made for a second weather seal by mounting the rubber Weatherstripping 22 along the inner edge of the door ll, said Weatherstripping acting in cooperation with the bead 23 in the running board to give a weather-tight contact when the door is closed. As will be seen by'referring to Fig. 2 of the drawing, the running board is substantially level with the floor 24 and, therefore, performs the functions of a door sill, a scuff plate and a running board. Consequently, when a car is equipped with a running board in accordance with the present invention,-the driver-or passengers when alighting from the car' may simply shocks.

'Inay be resorted to without departing from principles of the present invention.

slide a foot over the floor 24 of the car laterally and directly onto the running board.

It will be noted by referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing that the outer edge of the running board projects well beyond the tread of the tires of the wheels 25d and thereby provides a very effective shield to prevent stones, dirt or the like being thrown up by the tires against the outer sides of the body and rear fenders of the car.

Another feature of this invention is the manner in which the metal structure of the running board is fabricated and assembled and the manner in which this structure is united with the car as a whole. Referring to Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawing, it can be seen that the rubber foot tread of the running board I3 is mounted upon a sheet metal structure composed of an outer door sill member 21 formed with a downwardly extending flange 21a which is securely united to a downwardly extending flange 280, formed along the outer edge of the, metal floor plate 28. The flanges 21a and 28a. compose a longitudinal beam located along substantially the center line of the running board, said beam being transversely braced at spaced intervals by the combination of the U-shaped channel members 29 extending between said beam and the main frame structure 3!, and the gusset plates 32 which are bolted to said longitudinal beam and the members 30 and are elsewhere connected to the outer door sill member 28. This construction results in a double beam or box formation which effectively braces the running board in both the vertical and horizontal directions and lends additional strength and rigidity to the body of the car, and so that the entire running board including its outer door sill section is strongly braced to the main frame structure to resist both lateral and vertical Due to the fact that the downwardly extending skirt i2 of the door conforms to the curvature of the outer door sill section 28 of the running board and to the bracing of the latter which is carried directly in to the main frame structure, said skirt is very ffectively reinforced against distortion from side-swiping blows. A protective garnish strip or moulding 33 is secured along the outer lower edge of the door skirt l2 to reinforce and add rigidity to the structure and 1 also toserve as a buffer to prevent marring of the finish of thedoor should the lower edgeof the door strike an obstacle in opening.

This invention, then,jeliminates the hazardous conventional door sill, and the more objectionable combination of the conventional door sill and the narrow impractical running board, by providing a running board forming in effect a continuation of the car floor for cars having wide bodies which will project sufficiently beyond the car body to form a: shield against stones, and dirt being thrown up against the sides of thecar by the wheels, while at the same time resulting in a running board concealed in the streamline manner behind an apron which protects the running board from the weather and road dirt and provides amore rigid door construction which ives double weather stripping protection against wind, rain, dirt and draught.

While the construction disclosed herein has proven highly satisfactory in actual commercial manufacture, use and sale, it will be understood that many changes, variations and modifications the I claim:

"'1; In an automobile,

a body, a door az's'ssso thereto to swing outwardly of said body upona vertical axis, a floor for said body, a running board for said automobile having its upper surface lying in substantially the same horizontal plane as the floor of said body, said door being provided at its lower end with an outwardly flaring portion shaped to conform to the contour of said running board and projecting outwardly and below the same so as to completely encase and shield said running board when said door is in closed position and means for reinforcing said outwardly projecting portion against lateral distortion, comprising a plurality of reinforcing stiffening ribs located at spaced intervals along said flaring portion between the inner and outer sections thereof.

2. In an automobile, a body having a door I hinged thereto, said body being provided with a floor, a running board located in substantially the same horizontal plane as said floor and extending beyond the tread of the tires of said automobile, said door having spaced outer and inner panel sections and means for reinforcing said door along the lower edge thereof comprising an outwardly flaring portion forming substantial continuations of said outer and inner panel sections, spaced apart from each other throughout a part of said flaring portion and being united securely together at the outer edge thereof and a plurality of reinforcing stiffening ribs located at spaced intervals along said flaring portion between the inner and outer sections thereof.

3. In an automobile, a body having a door hinged thereto, said body being provided with a floor, a running board located in substantially the same horizontal plane as said floor and extending beyond the tread of the tires of said automobile, said door having spaced outer and inner panel sections and means for reinforcing said door along the lower edge thereof comprising an outwardly flaring portion forming substantial continuations of said outer and inner panel sections, spaced apart from each other throughout a part of said flaring portion and being united securely together at the outer edge thereof and a plurality of reinforcing stiffening ribs located at spaced intervals along said flaring portion between the inner and outer sections thereof, said reinforcing ribs being of tubular construction and being provided with upper and lower apertures to permit drainage of water through said ribs from the space between said inner and outer door panel sections.

4. In an automobile, a body having a door hinged thereto, said body being provided with a floor, a running board having its upper tread portion located in substantially the same horizontal plane as said floor, said running board consisting of a pair of sheet metal sections each provided along substantially the longitudinal centerline of said running board with a depending flange, means for rigidly connecting said flanges and sections together to give longitudinal, lateral and vertical stability and rigidity to said running board and said body and said door being provided at its lower edge with an outwardly flaring section provided with longitudinal and lateral reinforcing means, said section engaging with said running board along the inner and outer longitudinal edges thereof when said door is in closed position whereby said running board cooperates with the reinforced outwardly flaring section of said door to provide strength, stability and rigidity to the latter.

5. In an automobile, a body having a door hinged thereto, said body being provided with a floor, a running board having its upper tread portion located in substantially the same horizontal plane as said floor, said running board consisting of a pair of sheet metal sections each provided along substantially the longitudinal centerline of said running board with a depending flange, means for rigidly connecting said flanges and sections together to give longitudinal, lateral and vertical stability and rigidity to said running board and said body and said door being provided at its lower edge with an outwardly flaring section provided with longitudinal and lateral reinforcing means and forming an enlarged pedestal base section for said door, to provide added strength stability and rigidity thereto, said section of said door when in closed position encasing and enclosing the tread of said running board and said door section and running board being provided with interengaging means along the inner and outer longitudinal edges thereof.

6. In an automobile, a body having a door hinged thereto, said body being provided with a floor, a running board having its upper tread portion located in substantially the same horizontal plane as said floor, said running board consisting of a pair of sheet metal sections each provided with a depending flange, means for rigidly connecting said flanges and sections together to form a longitudinal beam along substantially the centerline of said running board,

spaced transverse members connecting said longitudinal beam to the frame structure of said automobile and to the outer edge of said running board, said longitudinal beam and transverse members cooperating to give longitudinal, lateral and vertical stability and rigidity to said running board and said body, and said door being provided at its lower edge with an outwardly flaring section provided with longitudinal and lateral reinforcing means, said section engaging with said running board along the inner and outer longitudinal edges thereof when said door is in closed position whereby said running board cooperates with the reinforced outwardly flaring section of said door to provide strength, stability and rigidity to the latter.

'7. In an automobile, a body having a door hinged thereto, said body being provided with a floor, a running board having its upper tread portion located in substantially the same horizontal plane as said floor, said running board consisting of a pair of sheet metal sections each provided with a depending flange, means for rigidly connecting said flanges and sections together to form a longitudinal beam along substantially the centerline of said running board, spaced transverse members connecting said longitudinal beam to the frame structure of said automobile and to the outer edge of said running board, said longitudinal beam and transverse members cooperating to give longitudinal, lateral and vertical stability and rigidity to said running board and said body, and said door being provided at its lower edge with an outwardly flaring section provided with longitudinal and lateral reinforcing means and forming an enlarged pedestal base section for said door, to provide added strength, stability and rigidity thereto, said section of said door when in closed position encasing and enclosing the tread of said running board and said door section and running board being provided with interengaging means along the inner and outer longitudinal edges thereof.

8. In an automobile, a body having a door hingedthereto, said body being provided with a floor, the lower portion of said door having an outwardly flaring section provided with lateral reinforcing means, and said lateral reinforcing means comprising a plurality of stiffening ribs located at spaced intervals along the lower portion of said door within the outwardly flaring section thereof, said outwardly flaring section of said'door being located adjacent said floor when said door is in its closed position-relative to said body. a

s 9.- In an automobile, a body having a door hinged thereto, said body being provided with a floor, a running board substantially level with said floor, said running board extending outwardly to a point beyond the location of the inner surface of said door when said door is in its closed position relative to said body, the lower portion of said door having an outwardly flaring section provided with lateral reinforcing means, and said lateral reinforcing means comprising a plurality of stiffening ribs located at spaced intervals along the lower portion of said door within the outwardly flaring section thereof, said outwardly flaring section of said door being located adjacent said floor when said door is in its closed position relative to said body.

10. In an automobile, a body having a door hinged thereto, said body being provided-with a floor, arunning board substantially level with said floor, said running board extending outwardly to a point beyond the location of the inner surface of said door when said door is in its closed position relative to said body, the lower portion of said door having an outwardly flaring section provided with lateral reinforcing means, and said lateral reinforcing means comprising a, plurality of stiffening ribs located at spaced intervals along the lower portion of said door within the outwardly flaring section thereof, said section engaging with said running board when said door is in closed position whereby said running board cooperates with the reinforced outwardly flaring section of said door to provide strength, stability and rigidity to the latter. r

11. In an automobile, a body having a door hinged thereto, said body being provided with a floor, a running board substantially level with said 'floor, said running board extending outwardly to a point beyond the location of the inner surface of said door when said door is in its closed position relative to said body, the lower portion of said door having an outwardly flaring section provided with lateral reinforcing means, and said lateral reinforcing means comprising a plurality of stiffening ribs located at spaced intervals along the lower portion of said door within the outwardly flaring section thereof, said running board engaging with said section along the inner and outer longitudinal edges thereof when said door is in closed position whereby said running board cooperates with the reinforced outwardly flaring section of said door to provide strength, stability and rigidity to the latter.

EUGENE T. GREGORIE. 

